


Escape

by seekergeek



Series: Companion 'verse [23]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, M/M, Pre-Slash, Valdemar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-03
Updated: 2012-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-17 15:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/553027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekergeek/pseuds/seekergeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Get him out of here!" Ronon snarled at Rodney as the crowd around them began to scream and mill around in a panic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escape

Rodney frantically grabbed John as he collapsed, terrified at seeing the blood seeping out into the previously spotlessly white uniform. "John!"  
  
Dave shouted angrily for a healer and his guards, pulling his dagger from the sheath in his belt defensively. Ronon rolled to his feet, cursing violently because he'd failed to intercept the knife with his own body, pulling weapons from seemingly nowhere. Vala tackled the servant who had thrown the knife and knocked him out with a vicious blow to the head.  
  
A bolt came streaking past Rodney's ear and he yelped. Cameron spun around, throwing a knife into the eye of the man with the crossbow in the doorway, dropping him to the floor.  
  
"Get him out of here!" Ronon snarled at Rodney as the crowd around them began to scream and mill around in a panic.   
  
Obeying Ronon's shouted order, Rodney tightened his grip on John, reached out with his mind and 'pulled'…  
  
…And they were both Fetched next to Cadman in her stall and in the middle of a different swirl of chaos. Horses were screaming all around them and Cadman was shrieking outrage, bashing her hind legs against the stall door with everything that she had. Three of the other Companions were also beating at the doors of their stalls with the same frantic determination.   
  
Atlantis though, was shrilling defiance and lashing out her front hooves at a groom holding a blood streaked sword and blocking the doorway of her stall. He dodged her hoofs and swung at her, glancing a blow off her shoulder. Blood ran freely from slashes in her shoulder and side and Puddlejumper whinnied in fear as he hid behind his mother.  
  
T'ealc succeeded in splintered his stall door and came charging out at full speed. Rearing up, he came down with all his weight onto the weapon-wielding groom, bearing him to the ground. Rodney heard a sickening crunch. T'ealc then began stomping repeatedly and Rodney heard more nausea provoking noises.  
  
"Oh my gods," Rodney whispered in horror, clutching a now unconscious John. It was an ambush. At least one of the groups that wanted John dead was here, now, and he didn't know how many other accomplices were lurking, waiting their turn.   
  
Cadman ceased pounding on the door and turned to Rodney, her eyes wild. _Rodney, open the doors! There may be more and we're sitting ducks if we can't get out!_   
  
He had his hands full of John and was unwilling to let go of him. Because as long as Rodney was holding onto John, he could feel him breathe and right now that was the only thing keeping him from having a panic attack. But she was right, they were sitting ducks and they all needed to get out of here. He took a deep centering breath, laid John down on the clean hay as gently as he could, tucked the circlet that fell from John's head inside his jacket securely and wrestled the door open. It was harder than it should have been because Cadman's concerted attack on it had warped the latching mechanism, jamming it badly. "Guard him," he croaked at Cadman once he'd opened her stall door. He then raced over to the other stalls and released the rest of the Companions.   
  
Turning around to go back and get John, Rodney saw movement in the corner of his eye and Cadman shouted, _Look out!_ He spun around to see another erstwhile groomsman come into the barn, raising a crossbow in Rodney's direction. Fueled by a combination of bone-rattling fear and towering fury, Rodney reacted with a snarl, throwing out a hand toward the assassin and with a lack of any finesse at all, willed him to die in an enormous blaze of fire.  
  
The resulting explosion rattled the building and peppered everything inside with small blackened chunks of flesh, making the horses go even crazier and Rodney jerk away from the bits hitting his face. He blinked for a second, realized what he'd just done and then promptly bent over and threw up.   
  
_Rodney, we've got to leave_ , Cadman said urgently, though her tone was compassionate.  
  
Nodding his head, Rodney spit a couple of times to clear his mouth and forced himself to pull it together and stand back up. He staggered over to retrieve John, asking, _How's Atlantis?_ as he collected his bleeding, precious cargo into his arms, ignoring how this was going to make his back scream in pain later.  
  
 _My wounds are superficial,_ Atlantis said, startling him. He looked up and saw her regarding him seriously, Puddlejumper glued close to her side. _But I'm afraid they will slow me down if I try to carry John. You must take him to a healer, quickly. I believe that the knife was poisoned. I can feel him slipping away too quickly for the type of injury he has sustained._   
  
"I can't take him to the healer here!" Rodney hissed. "God only knows how many assassins they've got stashed up there to make sure that the job gets finished!"  
  
 _I know,_ Atlantis replied grimly. _That is why you're going to Fetch him somewhere else._  
  
 _Rodney, Haikon says to look this way with your Sight,_ Cadman said, pulling his mind with hers in a northward direction. There, several miles away, an unassuming little healery stood in the midst of a forest.   
  
"I can't make it there, it's too far away!" Rodney protested. "I'll kill both of us trying!"   
  
_No, you will not, Master Scholar Rodney McKay,_ a deep masculine voice intoned calmly. T'ealc came up next to Atlantis and stopped next to her. His legs and chest were coated in blood and bits of other things better left unmentioned. _Because we will help you._  
  
"H, help me? How?" Rodney stuttered out.   
  
_The six of us are going to give you…a boost, as it were,_ Atlantis replied, reluctantly. Tomin and Haikon joined the rest of the Companions in front of him and all six looked at him soberly. _But we must do it quickly! We do not have much time and neither does John._  
  
Rodney looked down at the unconscious man he held. John's breathing was slower, more raspy than he remembered it, a small amount of blood bubbling out of his mouth with every breath. Terror raced through him again. Rodney shut his eyes, screwed up his courage and gritted out, "Fine. What do I do?"  
  
 _Open a link to me and do what you've been taught to do,_ Cadman instructed, _We'll handle the rest._  
  
Rodney took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, then grounded and centered. Feeling more in control at that point, he opened a link to Cadman and followed her lead to the distant healery again. He began to reach out toward it with his mind, trying not to think about how impossible this all was.   
  
A wave of strength and the feel of several minds joined together for one purpose surged through Rodney and he felt his 'grip' lock onto the destination he needed to go. Buoyed by the Companions, he tightened his 'grip' as much as he could and 'pulled'…  
  
…And stumbled and fell against the doorjamb of the front doorway of the healery, his head screaming in agony. Rodney managed to not drop John, but it was a very near thing. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he pushed himself upright and gave the door several good solid kicks before leaning back against the doorjamb, still cradling John in his arms.  
  
A blond, slightly horse-faced woman wearing the green robes of a Healer opened the door. "What …oh! Come in! Come in!" She reached out and pulled Rodney by the shoulder, guiding him into the building and to a room in the back. "Put him over there!" She said, pointing to a nearby bed.   
  
Rodney lurched over to the bed and gently laid John onto the bed. He gritted out, "The blade may be poisoned," dropped to his knees, and lowered his head. He breathed harshly, willing himself to not throw up again.   
  
The woman made a swift assessment of John visually, then stretched a hand out above the unconscious man and closed her eyes. "You're right, he's been poisoned," she said and opened her eyes. "Herald-trainee, are you able to lend your energy to assist? It's very bad, he may not make it otherwise."  
  
Rodney felt like he was going to topple over any second now, but John needed him so he said, "Sure, just…just give me a moment."  
  
 _Rodney, how is he?_ Cadman asked. She sounded rushed, like she was running flat out.  
  
 _Not good. The healer wants me to help. I…I don't know if I can, though,_ Rodney replied around the pain of the massive headache he had.  
  
 _Link with me,_ Cadman urged. _I'll give you everything you need._  
  
Gods, Rodney thought, he must be insane to try this after accomplishing the impossible already, but he reached for her and her bright strength flowed into him. He lifted a hand up toward the Healer and croaked out, "Here, hold my hand."  
  
The Healer grabbed his hand in a firm grip and he pushed the energy toward her. Rodney felt her grab the energy and he lifted his aching head to watch. She picked up a cloth with her other hand, wrapped it over the handle of the knife and swiftly pulled it out of John. Setting it aside, she laid her hand on the wound and he felt her direct the energy toward John, doing whatever it was Healers did when they were working to save a life. Closing his eyes and dropping his head back down, he concentrated on keeping the channel of energy open and flowing for as long as she needed it.   
  
After what seemed to be about a million years later, she finally released his hand and Rodney dropped his arm, exhausted. His head was a one enormous pounding knot of pain and he was shaking so hard that his teeth rattled. He heard a chiding tsk.  
  
"Heralds!" the Healer exclaimed in exasperation. "Why didn’t you tell me you were already suffering from overstraining your Gift?"   
  
Rodney felt strong arms haul him up from the floor and guide him over to what turned out to be a chair. He sat obediently, trying very hard to not jar his head as he leaned back into it. "Drink this," the Healer ordered, holding a warm mug up to his lips.   
  
He gratefully sucked the foul-tasting medicine down. As soon as the mug was empty, she shoved a small honeycake into his mouth, which he devoured, despite the nausea he felt.   
  
"Goodness, you've really done a job on yourself," the Healer commented. "Here, eat more honeycake." She shoved another one into his mouth. "You need the sweets. You've gone and burned up every bit of energy you had. I hope that whatever it was you two were up to was worth the effort, because neither of you are leaving here tonight."  
  
The medicine started to kick in and Rodney risked opening his eyes once he'd finished chewing the second honeycake. "Funeral. We were ambushed." A flash of panic ran over him. The rest of John's retinue. _Cadman! Is everybody okay?_  
  
 _Yes, everyone is fine,_ Cadman answered immediately. _There was a brief battle, but the Duke's and Queen's guards managed to turn the tide. We were unable to capture any of the assassins alive though, so we don't know that we got them all. Lie low, and don't let anyone else know where you are. I'm coming to you as fast as I can._  
  
Rodney gasped as even that short communication worsened his headache.   
  
The Healer rolled her eyes and slapped him on the thigh. "Stop that! I know that you guys are dedicated, but you're in no shape to do anything at this point. Keep it up and you'll only make yourself sicker."  
  
She had a point, but the more information he had, the more likely he'd be able to protect John. He'd done a lousy job at the funeral, but he was determined to do better. "How's John?" he rasped out.  
  
"Herald John is out of danger," the Healer said, rubbing his hand soothingly. "You got him here in time. I was able to neutralize the poison and partially heal his wound. But the both of you are going to have to stay here for at least a little while to heal."  
  
Rodney grabbed her hand. "You can't tell anyone we're here!"  
  
Her eyebrows lifted at his vehemence. "Why?"  
  
"We need to lie low. Nobody can know that John's here," Rodney explained urgently. His head still ached terribly and spots danced before his eyes. "He's in danger."  
  
She regarded him steadily for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. First thing we need to do is get both of you out of your uniforms. Luckily, I've got some extra clothing lying around."  
  
She went and retrieved some clothing and tossed Rodney some items. "Here, these should fit you. Change clothes and give me your uniform." She turned away from him and started peeling John out of his uniform in a practiced fashion.   
  
Rodney shakily stood up and stripped his uniform off, swallowing uneasily at the stains he saw on them from where John had bled on him. He then quickly changed into the borrowed items, grateful that the Healer's attention was elsewhere. Not knowing what else to do with the circlet, Rodney stuffed it back inside his new shirt. He looked over to where John was and saw that the Healer had him down to his small clothes and had tucked a blanket around him.   
  
"I'll toss these into a soak bucket and hide them until you can leave," the Healer said, collected Rodney's uniform to add to the pile of John's already in her arms. "You, on the other hand, had better sit your ass back down in that chair and eat more honeycake. I'll be back with some food and more medicine." She bustled out of the room.   
  
Rodney dropped inelegantly back into the chair, grabbed another honeycake from a plate on the table nearby and grimly ate it with trembling hands, sternly telling his stomach to deal with it. He was going to have to talk to someone about this always running out of energy business.  
  
A while later the Healer came back in with a tray full of food She sat the tray down, put a plate full of an assortment of foods onto the table and handed another mug of headache medicine to him. "Drink up."  
  
"Ah, thank you, Healer, ah…" Rodney awkwardly replied, bumbling to a stop because he was unsure if she'd given him her name or not.  
  
"Biro," She replied, flashing him a quick smile that made her look momentarily beautiful.   
  
"Healer Biro," Rodney repeated, trying really hard to press this particular name into memory. Then he remembered the manner lessons Dame Heightmeyer had been hammering into his head and added, "I'm Rodney."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Herald-trainee Rodney," Biro replied briskly. She waved a hand at the mug in his hands. "Now that we've dispensed with the introductions, would you please take your medicine and eat? That reaction headache of yours is really awful."  
  
Chagrined, Rodney quickly chugged down the medicine with a grimace and ate another honeycake to chase away the flavor. That out of the way, he then picked up a bit of cheese up off of his plate and began to eat. He was almost through with the plate when the drowsiness hit, and hit hard.  
  
Biro, who had been puttering around with some herbs, turned and smiled at him. "Ah, I see you finally quit using your Gift long enough to let the medicine work." She set down her mortar and pestle, came over and helped him stand up. Rodney was grateful for it, because the room was doing a slow spin at that point. Biro guided him over to the bed next to John's and pushed him down into it. "Sleep now, Herald-trainee. If I sense anyone coming I'll awaken you, I promise. Both of you are safe for now."  
  
Rodney took one last anxious look at John. "He'll be okay?"  
  
Biro patted him on the shoulder. "He'll be fine. Once I've rested up, I'll work on his wound again, but for now he's stable. Rest, Rodney. You're no good to him exhausted like this. Sleep."  
  
Reassured that John would be okay, Rodney closed his eyes and let unconsciousness wash over him.   
  
It seemed like he'd just closed his eyes, when he was jostled awake again. "Wake up, Herald-trainee!"  
  
Rodney groaned and opened his eyes, noting that the light had changed and it was probably the next morning. Healer Biro stood over him in a different green robe, looking concerned. "Wha?" he mumbled, still struggling his way toward consciousness. At least his headache was gone. Thinking about it muzzily, he was frankly astonished by that fact. He'd expected to still be suffering from it after that last feat of Fetching. He'd never underestimate the power of a small herd of Companions focused on boosting his Gifts again.   
  
"There are people coming and they do not have good intentions on their minds," Biro warned. She looked out a window briefly, then back at him. "You've got about an hour to prepare before they're here."  
  
A bolt of fear-born energy rocketed him to full wakefulness and he sat up. "You can feel them coming?"  
  
Biro gave him an irritated look. "Of course I can. Heralds aren't the only ones with Gifts you know. I'm a fairly good Empath as well as Healer. And these people that are coming do not feel nice."  
  
Rodney's attention immediately turned to John, still resting in the bed next to him. "Can he be moved?"  
  
"No, he can't." She then frowned thoughtfully. "Well, he can, but that would undo some of my work and risk reopening his wound and exposing him to infection. I don't recommend it unless there is no other choice. I'd need your assistance to help heal him enough to safely move him and to be quite blunt, you're going to need that energy to deal with these people."  
  
He sighed heavily and wiped his face with both hands. He didn't have the training yet to cope with this, what the hells was he supposed to do?  
  
 _Rodney, don't panic. I'm here to help you, we'll figure it out,_ Cadman said and her horsey nose came into view in the window Healer Biro had looked out of.   
  
It was the sweetest thing he had ever seen and Rodney flung himself over to the window, opened it, grabbed her head and hugged it fiercely. _Gods, Cadman, thank Havens you're here! What do I do? John shouldn't be moved and there are people coming after him._  
  
Cadman nickered softly at him and he felt a loving warmth envelope him. _I know. I wouldn't be surprised if there were several teams of men checking all the healeries in the area. We will have to hold them off somehow, either redirect them or trap them. Heralds Ronon and Vala are heading this way as well._  
  
Rodney sighed in relief upon hearing that there were some experienced Heralds heading their way. It still didn't solve the problem of their upcoming 'visitors', but at least he didn't feel so completely overwhelmed anymore. He let go of Cadman and turned to look at Healer Biro. "Do you know how many there are coming this way?"  
  
"There are five," she answered immediately. "And they are coming quickly enough that I can tell that they are on good horses."  
  
Horses. That would be their weak point. Horses were herd animals and easily spooked. Rodney could do something with that. "You stay here and watch over him," he said, nodding at the still unconscious John. "If worse comes to worst, get him out of here and hide the both of you as best you can. I'm going out to see if I can do something to discourage them from coming here."  
  
Healer Biro thrust a package at him. "Take these with you." Taking in his puzzled expression, she explained, "They're fruit and nut bars. If I'm right, you're likely to need them to keep your energy up while you deal with these people. Eat one before you go. If you start using your Gift, eat another. If you keep using your Gift, eat more. The brain requires a huge amount of energy to function, using Gifts even more so. With any luck, this will help delay or negate any reaction headache." She then held out a coat. "And put this on before you go out. I'll not have you catching your death of cold on my watch either."  
  
"Oh. Um, thanks," Rodney replied. He put on the coat, crammed a fruit and nut bar into his mouth and slipped the rest into one of the capacious pockets. He took one last look at John. "Take care of him for me," he mumbled around the food in his mouth.  
  
"You got it," Healer Biro answered firmly. "Now go. You've got no time to lose."  
  
He met up with Cadman outside and realized that he had a problem. "You don't have a saddle."  
  
She glanced over her shoulder at her back. _Is that going to be a problem?_  
  
"I, ah, I don't know how to get up on you without a saddle," Rodney admitted.  
  
 _Ah,_ Cadman replied. _Don't worry, I have a solution for that._ Rodney watched as she lowered herself and settled onto the ground. _Get on._   
  
Unsure how this was going to work, but trusting that Cadman wouldn't do something stupid with John's life in danger, Rodney clambered onto her.   
  
_Hold on tight,_ she warned, and then Cadman heaved to her feet. Rodney's chest hit her back with a thump, but he managed to maintain his seat to his utter surprise. _Don't be so shocked,_ Cadman said, humor suffusing her tone. _You've learned a lot in Equitation class._  
  
"And yet, I still manage to get myself all bruised up," Rodney replied ruefully, rubbing his chest. He then grabbed a firmer hold on her, took a deep breath and said, "Okay, horse-face, let's go."  
  
Cadman broke into a gallop, Rodney scanning ahead with his Sight for the people searching for John. He quickly found them and saw that yes, there were five of them, hardened looking men riding their horses hells-bent toward the healery. At the rate Cadman was going, they were going to run into them on the road sooner rather than later. "Uh, Cadman, I don't think we should meet these guys face to face."  
  
Rodney felt, more than heard Cadman's agreement and she veered off the road and into the trees, gracefully avoiding areas of underbrush which would slow them down. Rodney hunkered down, hoping to keep some random tree branch from dumping him off of her back. More quickly that he would have liked, they were close enough to the oncoming men to hear the horses in the distance. Cadman moved into the dense underbrush by the road, camouflaging them from sight.  
  
Mindful of Biro's warning, Rodney pulled another fruit and nut bar out of his pocket and jammed it into his mouth. Chewing the sweet and sticky thing furiously, he focused on his surroundings, formulating a plan that would hopefully keep John safe from these thugs. Gathering up his nerve, he extended out his hand towards the bend in the road and began Fetching every large piece of deadfall he could find, rapidly creating a barrier in the road.  
  
Rodney fumbled another bar into his mouth and took a brief breather once he was finished eating it, conserving his strength for what he would have to do next. The sound of the horses came closer and then slowed to a halt. Rodney opened his eyes and saw the men dismount their horses warily and step forward to examine the barrier, their weapons drawn. He skimmed their thoughts and as he suspected, annoyance at the impediment and a determination to find John and dispose of him was uppermost within their minds. Pressing his lips together grimly, Rodney reached out and enacted part two of his plan.   
  
The barrier exploded, flaming branches streaking outward, impaling the men and horses in several places. Rodney swallowed convulsively at the shrieks of the panicked and injured horses as they stampeded away. He hated hurting innocent animals. The men had taken the worst hit, however. None of them remained standing and three of them lay motionless. The other two moved sluggishly, moaning softly.   
  
_What do I do now?_ he asked Cadman unsteadily. _Do I, do I…finish them off?_  
  
Solid support flowed from her as she replied, _No, Rodney, you don't need to do that. You could search their minds to see who their orders came from, though. I don't think that they're in good enough shape for you to use the Truth Spell on them._  
  
Rodney swallowed convulsively again. Searching a person's mind was very nearly as bad as killing them. Unlike skimming, it would take Rodney actively invading their minds. But they had agreed to hunt down and kill the only heir to Valdemar, to murder _John,_ and so the privacy of their minds was forfeit. The Queen needed any information that Rodney could pull from them in order to protect the kingdom from would-be usurpers. He took a moment to force a couple of bites of another fruit and nut bar into his system and then dove into their minds, one by one.   
  
The first was dying and knew nothing, only that two of the others who were already dead had recruited him to the job. Rodney pulled out as soon as he discovered that and focused on the next man. This one was stronger, and Rodney sidestepped his defenses quickly to rummage through the man's recent memories. He fished through a number of sickening and unsavory things that the man had done, but finally came to the memory he'd been searching for – a memory of a letter received, a letter dictating John's demise, signed by a person named Asuras. A letter that had then been burnt. The man had never met this Asuras in person.   
  
Rodney moaned in frustration as he pulled out. The name could be fake, a code, anything. Without a face to tie it to, they were still in the dark about the identities of the people who were behind this.   
  
_Maybe you should tie him up and let one of the more experienced Heralds handle this,_ Cadman said. _Perhaps they can get more out of him later. It's safe enough for you to do so. He's injured badly enough that he won't be able to resist._  
  
 _Fine, sure,_ Rodney replied reluctantly. Cadman plowed through the underbrush and back onto the road. He slipped off her back, stripped the lacing ties off of the dead and tied the man up, trying to ignore his moans of pain as he did so. He wanted to throw up again, but Rodney managed to force his gorge to stay down. He might need to use his Gifts again soon and vomiting all the time would only deprive him of energy that he would need later on.  
  
 _I've told the others where to find him,_ Cadman said, nosing him in the back gently once he was done. _Let's go back to the Healer and John. You look like you could use some more rest._  
  
Rodney stood and cracked his back. Gods, he was too old for this kind of nonsense. "Right. Can you do that thing and let me get back up on you again?"  
  
She knelt down in response, and Rodney remounted her. She forged her way back through the thicket, came back onto the road on the other side of the barrier and set off on a brisk gallop back to the healery, Rodney grimly hanging on.   
  
He wasn't a religious person, but Rodney prayed silently for no further assassins to show up. He'd been right to be wary of his Gifts. He'd just killed five men with them in very short order. And the worst thing was not that he'd done it. The worst thing was that he would do it again in the blink of an eye. It was no longer theory, but blunt practical application that he would do anything he had to in order to protect John and that scared Rodney more than anything else in the world.


End file.
